I gave the Townshend Rock 7 Turntable a PFO Writer's Choice award last
year (see
Issue 58) and promised a full review soon after, but that was
to be delayed by life's trials and tribulations (I've been using the
Townshend turntable together with a Helius Omega tonearm as my reference
for well over a year now.). So before anything else happens, I'm going
to write this now to bring this remarkable audio component to your
attention… assuming of course that you haven't already heard about it as
it has received some well-deserved raves.

Townshend Engineering has an eclectic line of products springing from
the brilliant mind of audio designer Max Townshend. The UK company is
probably best known in the USA for the Seismic Sink isolation platforms
that use air bladders to effectively separate external vibrations from
your components. They also produce a preamp, supertweeter,
loudspeakers, cables, and other various items, but I believe the Rock 7
Turntable is their most significant product, as it does the more to
remove veils and haze to get the most out of the record grooves we
cherish. Although the design contains numerous engineering innovations,
they are executed in a simple and ingenious way that does not require
enormously expensive materials or manufacturing processes, like other
heroic turntable designs we read about and lust after. The Townshend is
able to scratch the surface of state-of-the-art without costing an arm
and a leg (just $3200 in basic form) and is, therefore, accessible to
many music lovers.

It's not easy to mistake the Townshend turntable with other turntables,
as it has a most unusual look. The design has evolved since the 1980's
when the first Rock turntable hit the market. Townshend is all about
eliminating vibration and resonances that get in the way of the music
via the playback process. How does it do this? First, the Rock 7 has no
conventional base or plinth, which in other designs, add cost and
sometimes degrade performance. The substantial polyethylene plastic
platter and the bearing are held on a steel sub-chassis that is
supported by three spring/bellows feet. These feet are tuned to isolate
the platter from shocks and vibrations down to a very low frequency
(3Hz). The height of the feet can be adjusted independently, and a
heavy weight is suspended off the side of the sub-chassis to
counterbalance the arm and level the entire turntable. The 24-pole
250-RPM synchronous motor with its two-speed (33 and 45 rpm) drive
pulley, IEC power socket, and on/off switch, is contained in a separate
box that is connected to the main turntable assembly by an elastic
belt. This configuration ensures high isolation between the platter and
the motor. The motor box also has isolation feet to address vibrations.

The polyethylene platter is made of a material very similar to an LP…
and for a very specific reason. This is explained best on the Townshend
web site:

"The polyethylene platter ensures a virtually perfect mechanical
impedance match between the record and the platter surface. This means
that the sound wave, which radiates from the stylus-tip whilst playing,
is transferred without reflection into the bulk of the material, where
it is naturally absorbed in the slightly lossy bulk of the platter. This
mechanical damping process is crucial for clear reproduction as early
reflections at this point, due to (very common) mechanical impedance
mismatches, cause strong early reflections of the musical information
coming off the disc. This, of course, is a form of distortion and
significantly blurs the sound."

The bearing is another special item. It consists of a unique one-piece
precision-ground steel shaft with a hardened bottom-end resting on a
steel ball. The ball and shaft are lubricated with state-of-the-art
synthetic oil developed for Formula 1 racecars. This sits in the bottom
of a brass bearing assembly that is fixed to the main chassis. Thus,
the bearing is isolated from the outside world, floating in oil. The
bearing shaft extends right through the sub-platter and the main platter
to form the spindle for the record. The top of the spindle has a
threaded hole for the Rock record clamp. The clamp works with a
supplied threaded aluminum disk that goes under the record and is
adjustable to accommodate different record thicknesses. The clamp and
disk work together to obtain just the right amount of clamping to
impedance match the record to the platter (this adjustable aluminum disk
function is not addressed in the version of the manual that came with my
turntable—when I figured out how to use it correctly it made a
significant difference in the sound—much like a small vertical
tracking angle adjustment).

The most unusual feature of the Rock 7 is how it uses fluid damping to
suppress arm/cartridge resonances and spurious cartridge movement. Most
audiophiles know they need to match the cartridge compliance with the
effective mass of the arm, or else large low frequency resonances are
excited that can affect the sound or, in some cases, can even overload
the phono preamp, or even cause the cartridge to mistrack. Even in a
compatible arm/cartridge combination, these resonances are still there,
just lower in amplitude. With my previous turntable/arm I made mistakes
more than once by picking the wrong cartridge for the arm. In these
cases I could actually watch the speaker woofers from across the room
making large excursions independent of the music. Record warps and
center-hole misalignments also cause the cartridge to move
inconsistently with the music at low frequencies. These problems smear
the sound and obscure detail and focus, yet they are ubiquitous in
almost all turntable setups. Some turntable designers employ heroic
(and often extremely expensive) efforts to reduce the occurrence of
these perturbations. Several other turntables and arms use damping at
the rear of the arm where a small trough or well containing silicone
damping fluid is located. However, with this approach the cartridge
perturbations have already affected the sound before they even reach the
trough.

The Townshend turntable locates the trough so as to damp the
perturbations right at the cartridge head shell. A substantial trough,
shaped in the arc of the record, and containing viscous damping fluid,
is fastened to the sub-chassis and swings directly over the top of the
record's surface. Townshend supplies an outrigger assembly that
attaches to the tonearm headshell and supports a paddle (just a small
aluminum tube) that is immersed in the trough as it travels across the
record along with the stylus. The outrigger assembly insures intimate
contact between the paddle and the cartridge, and damps the undesirable
perturbations right at the headshell, while allowing the cartridge to
follow the groove modulations accurately. This eliminates the smearing
at the source and gives the sound rock solid imaging and focus—hence
the turntable's name. The figure below is from the Townsend web site,
and plots the low frequency response of a typical arm/cartridge between
5Hz and 20Hz. The upper plot is without damping and reveals a resonance
of about 15dB in amplitude at 8Hz and, an overall increase in spurious
(i.e., not part of the music) energy in the measurement band. This plot
is probably typical of how your turntable system is working today, no
matter how much you spent on the arm or cartridge. The lower plot
depicts the response with the fluid damping as implemented in the Rock 7
and shows complete suppression of the resonance. Wow! Even though this
is a crude engineering plot, it doesn't take much imagination to
appreciate how significant it is to get rid of all that junk between 5Hz
and 20Hz while letting the 'real music' pass through unperturbed.

On the Townshend website it describes the trough as an option, but it
makes no sense to buy the turntable without it. It makes such a huge
difference in the sound; you can play records without using the trough,
that after trying this once, you won't want to ever do so again. Max
Townshend's ingenious outrigger and trough design is compatible with
almost any tonearm.

The Rock 7 is supplied without a tonearm, but offers the buyer a choice
of arm boards cut for a Rega, SME, Linn, Jelco, or Townshend arm. Custom arm boards are also available, which is what I ordered to
accommodate my Helius Omega tonearm. Bob Levi and others have already
commented on this outstanding tonearm in other issues of PFO, so I won't
go into it specifically in this review, but the sound of the tonearm is
linked to the turntable sound, as I am sure you all appreciate. If you
can afford the Helius Omega, I recommend it highly.

It is fair to say the Townshend turntable is not as easy to set up as
other, more conventional designs, but neither is it as complicated as
some others dues to its ingeniously simple yet effective design. I
enlisted the aid of Dan Meinwald, the US distributor for the Townshend,
to assist. Even so, we had several issues during the installation that
are probably specific to my configuration. For example, I had some fit
problems with the custom arm board that Dan had to fix, and there was a
tolerance issue with the extension of the main bearing below the chassis
that required some tweaks. We received help directly from the factory
in the UK via email which promptly resolved everything. Townshend has a
number of optional accessories to help with installation issues (e.g.,
tonearm counterweights, etc.) so make sure you work with a good dealer. For most users the most complicated setup involves leveling the
turntable, which requires sequentially manipulating the counterbalancing
weight, as well as adjusting the three spring/feet. After the initial
setup I had an issue with the clearance height of the trough over the
record when playing some warped LPs, and I had a limit in adjusting
cartridge VTA, because of dimensions on the arm board (specific to my
tonearm). I also had to rig up something to deal with the power cord
dragging the relatively lightweight motor out of position. I'm
mentioning these things for completeness, not to raise any concerns. All was well with a little persistence… plus an occasional mild
profanity.

Before the turntable/tonearm was ready for review, I had to settle on
cables. I expected to spend some time trading off between interconnect
cables, and I did try probably a dozen different ones covering a price
range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. Today, I
switch between a relatively low cost phono cable from Wywires (very
dynamic) and a more expensive interconnect from Kubala-Sosna (a little
warmer and smoother) according to mood. In my Rock 7 setup, I think the
interconnect choice has more to do with the tonearm and cartridge than
it does with the turntable.

I was not prepared to spend as much time as I did finding the right
power cord to use with the Rock 7's motor. It is vital to find the
right power cord for your Rock 7 turntable if you want to experience the
brilliant sound it is capable of, because, for reasons I don't
understand, the sound varied radically with choice of power cord. Some
multi-kilobuck power cords I had in for review made LPs sound terrible
(lack of focus, flaccid bass, grunge, etc.). Yet, in other positions in
my system these same power cords made wonderful music. I ended up using
a quite inexpensive PS Audio power cord with the Rock 7, because it
resulted in very impressive sound. I eventually settled on a
Kubala-Sosna Emotion power cord that allowed the magic of the turntable
to shine through without compromise. However, the Kubala-Sosna cord
may, or may not be the right one for you. I haven't noticed anyone else
commenting on the Rock 7 mentioning this odd setup quirk (though Dan
Meinwald alerted me to this phenomenon when I first started using the
turntable), which puzzles me. If you decide to buy the Townshend,
please work with a dealer to try out a range of cords from different
manufacturers before you finalize the setup. Alternatively, Townshend
has recently come out with an optional DC motor for the Rock 7 which
comes with a substantial regulated power supply. I heard this
configuration at Dan Meinwald's home recently, and it worked well with a
plain old hardware store power cord. Since the DC motor/power supply
adds $1900 to the price of the turntable, one has to choose between the
cost of the motor vs. the cost of a potentially expensive power cord.

The procedure to play a record on the Rock 7 is that you first adjust
the aluminum disk that fits on the spindle for record thickness. Depending on what you are playing, you may be able to ignore this step
if the record thickness does not change within your collection (which is
highly unlikely!). You will quickly learn the right setting, and
thankfully this adjustment is not fussy. Next, place the record on the
spindle and twist on the clamp until it is slightly tight. Swing the
trough over the record until it clicks in place, and then move the arm
and cartridge over the lead-in grooves. It is still pretty easy to see
the stylus position, despite the presence of the outrigger assembly. You are now ready to play. When the side is over, merely lift the
arm/cartridge and outrigger assembly and swing it over to its rest. You
can adjust the armrest such that the paddle is over the pivot point of
the trough to catch any residual liquid that might drop off the paddle.
Once the arm is in its rest you can swing the trough away and remove the
record.

How does the Rock 7 sound? For large-scale orchestral music, it
redefined what I thought an orchestra could sound like on my stereo
system, and on other types of music, it brought me closer to the
performers than I had ever experienced prior. Moreover, this feeling of
discovery persisted every time I put on a different record. Each
experience was a new one. The Rock 7 had the most profound impact on
the sound of reproduced music in my home than did any other equipment
change I had ever made, including changing speakers!

In my first few months with the Rock 7, I used a Dynavector Karat moving
coil cartridge carried over from my previous reference; a tricked out
VPI Scout turntable with JMW arm. Switching to the Townshend/Helius
combination provided a solidity and stability to the sound that was
previously unmatched. Bass was as powerful and distinct as any I had
ever heard from my speakers. Clarity was improved on everything I
played. Dynamic range was tremendous and transients snapped. Timing
and rhythmic drive just seemed right. Individual instrument lines were
easy to follow, even in congested passages. New levels of nuance and
detail were revealed that I had only heard in some of the best and most
expensive systems. Images were broad and distinct, and the soundstage
was as wide as the recording allowed. It was possible to become
completely immersed in the music on vocals and small jazz pieces. And it
was impossible to ignore the music when the Rock 7 was playing, even
when the volume was turned down.

A few months after installing the Rock 7 in my system I took the plunge
and purchased a London Reference cartridge ($5250 last time I checked),
one of the world's best cartridges. See Bob Levi's review in
PFO Issue
48. The London's design is unique in that it does not employ a
cantilever to support the stylus. Eliminating the cantilever also
eliminates any resonances that might get between the record groove and
the cartridge coils (London calls this "cantilever haze”). This
approach complements the Rock 7's design objective to eliminate
resonances, and other perturbations, right at the source. , Based on
these consistent design objectives, I believe the Rock 7 turntable and
London Reference cartridge is an ideal match. I know several other
audiophiles in my area who have purchased just this combination.

Music with the London cartridge on the Rock 7 was much more dramatic and
even closer to the master tape compared to using the Dynavector
cartridge (much cheaper than the London so don't take this as a
criticism of the Dynavector). With the London cartridge, music leapt
out of the speakers, depth was even deeper, and the edges of the
soundstage were filled out more completely. The sound was balanced
better across the frequency range with a richer midrange and more
delicate and nuanced high end. Bass was even more powerful, with
extraordinary definition. The turntable combo got completely out of the
way of music, and allowed me to hear every detail. The rhythm and pace
were wonderful, driving the music ever forward. As much as I enjoyed
exploring my LP collection with the Dynavector cartridge, it was even
more rewarding to rehear old favorites with the London cartridge. The
emotional connection between the players and me was gripping.

I have little negative to say about the Rock 7 turntable. It is not the
prettiest turntable in the world, and it only comes in basic black. It
doesn't use exotic materials, or huge and heavy machined parts like some
other designs that might impress your friends. The set up is a little
more complicated than most, and it's important to keep checking that the
turntable is level. The presence of the viscous fluid means it's a
little more involved to move the turntable around (i.e., the damping
fluid should be removed for long range moves or shipping), but this
isn't necessary very often.

I'm simply at a loss to identify any sonic shortcomings. I've heard one
$25,000 turntable/arm that sounded quieter, but it was lifeless. Another
$20,000 table I'm familiar with, and using the same arm and cartridge,
sounds about the same in terms of impact, involvement and sonic
accuracy, but no better.

The astonishing thing is that the Rock 7 costs only $3200 (not including
arm), yet it competes with designs costing much, much more. My strong
advice is to audition the Rock 7 before considering spending more than
$3200. Although I use the turntable with a fairly expensive arm (the Helius Omega costs about $3100) you should be able to achieve close to
the same performance with a less expensive arm due to the benefits
provided by the trough; damping vibrations so near the source makes life
easier for the tonearm. If you are fortunate to have the extra money,
spend it on a better power cord, or on the DC motor option. If you
really want to unlock the magic contained in your LP grooves, I strongly
encourage you to try out the Townshend Rock 7 turntable. Michael
Wechsberg